Former Alaska Lawmaker Sentenced On Bribery Charges

Alaska's former state House speaker was sentenced to six years in federal prison Friday for accepting $9,000 in bribes from the founder of an oil field services company.

Pete Kott, a Republican who represented a suburb of Anchorage for 14 years, also was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.

U.S. District Court Judge John Sedwick bumped up the prison term beyond sentencing guidelines after concluding that Kott had committed perjury during his trial. He also said the legislation Kott took bribes to influence -- a revised tax law on Alaska's principal industry, crude oil extraction -- affected every Alaskan.

"The amount of money was in the hundreds of millions, if not billions," Sedwick said.

Kott was convicted in September of bribery, extortion and conspiracy for his dealings with executives of VECO Corp., a major Alaska firm that performed maintenance, design and construction contracts for petroleum producers.

Besides the cash, federal prosecutors said Kott accepted a political poll paid on his behalf by VECO and that he received the promise of a job with the company after he left the Alaska legislature. The federal court jury acquitted him of wire fraud. |Read more|

Global Warming Threatens Tree Frogs

A HEAT-SEEKING frog with a remarkable ability to control its temperature may be protected from extinction by experts in Manchester.

Scientists believe global warming is behind a dramatic decline in Central America's tropical tree frogs - and their findings could help save dozens of other threatened species.

Costa Rican tree frogs live high above the ground and bask in the sun.

Manchester University scientists think they do this because the heat kills fungal infections, but global warming has created cloudy conditions in their habitat, leading to increased illness.

They are testing their theory on tree frogs held as part of a collection of amphibians at Manchester Museum.

Amphibian expert Andrew Gray said a scanner would examine the frogs' skin, which lets them regulate their temperature as well as change colors to camouflage themselves.

He said: "The imaging technique is non-invasive and does not harm the frogs."

A third of the world's 5,700 amphibians face extinction through global warming.
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It is astonishing to me that with all of the available information, concerning global warming and its effects on our planet, that an entire city would not be concerned about energy conservation. Like I have pointed out previously, an energy savings contract, under former New Orleans Mayor, Marc Morial was looted. His confidant, Stan "Pampy" Barre, was the ringleader who because of his own personal greed decided to use the City's coffers as his own personal ATM machine. It is inconceivable to realize that a person would be so cold and calculating as to deny the citizens of New Orleans to reap those benefits of the energy savings contract.

KICKBACKS

Kickbacks are another example of the type of corruption that the citizens of New Orleans had to endure from some of its elected officials and businessmen who are cronies of those elected officials.


A kickback is an official's share of misappropriated funds allocated from his or her organization to an organization involved in corrupt bidding. For example, suppose that a politician is in charge of choosing how to spend some public funds. He can give a contract to a company that isn't the best bidder, or allocate more than they deserve. In this case, the company benefits, and in exchange for betraying the public, the official receives a kickback payment, which is a portion of the sum the company received.

This sum itself may be all or a portion of the difference between the actual (inflated) payment to the company and the (lower) market-based price that would have been paid had the bidding been competitive. Kickbacks are not limited to government officials; any situation in which people are entrusted to spend funds that do not belong to them is susceptible to this kind of corruption.

Feds take aim at corruption by officials in New Orleans

The voice on the radio assumes the tone of a high school principal: "Public service is not about stealing from the people — it's about giving to the people."

The voice belongs to James Bernazzani, the FBI's special agent in charge in New Orleans. He, along with the U.S. Attorney's Office here and a new inspector general at City Hall, is launching a very public assault on public corruption.

The FBI's New Orleans office has tracked a 452% jump in corruption indictments the past five years. Corruption convictions in eastern Louisiana climbed 33% in the same period, making it one of the top spots in the country for such convictions, according to Justice Department statistics.

Among those convicted: 23 Orleans Parish school officials, 16 workers from city hall and 14 traffic court employees, along with judges, councilmen and other officials, said Jim Letten, U.S. Attorney for eastern Louisiana. "We're going after anyone — whether it's a teacher or minor public official — who engages in any kind of public corruption," he said.

Many of the investigations were launched before the 2005 floods and destruction unleashed by Hurricane Katrina. But the post-storm recovery, with billions of dollars in federal aid streaming into the area, can lead to further corruption and triggered agents to step up investigations, Bernazzani said.

Robert Cerasoli, a former inspector general for the state of Massachusetts who has a long résumé of fighting waste and corruption, was recruited this summer for the position. Cerasoli stunned city officials by not taking a city car, opting instead to use his personal car, and moving into a small, loaned office on the third floor of Loyola University's Monroe Library.

Unlike the FBI, which investigates individuals, Cerasoli said his job will be to examine the system to see where changes can be made to prevent corruption. He said his first task will be to study the city charter and its many agencies, commissions and quasi-governmental bodies, looking for conflicts of interest. "I'm certainly going to find corruption along the way," he said.

Though hired by the city, Cerasoli said it is still not known whether the city will block access to records and files or give him the money and access needed to do his job. The City Council is expected to announce his budget Nov. 1.

New Orleans Inspector General Makes Appeal To Council

"New Orleans' first inspector general made his first appearance Thursday before the City Council, getting assurances that he will be given a 2008 budget large enough to do his job of uncovering waste, fraud and inefficiency in city government." |Read more|

Pressure's On As Morial Cronies Near Trial

"The most frequently asked question on the street these days is whether the feds will ever indict ex-mayor and now-Urban League President Marc Morial.

Speculation on the issue has been rife since the FBI used a battering ram to gain entry to his brother Jacques' digs early one morning more than two years ago. Meanwhile a string of indictments and guilty pleas has opened up the seamy underbelly of the Morial administration.

Next month Morial's former property management director, Kerry DeCay, and three others go on trial for their roles in one of the more spectacular scams allegedly pulled off under hizzoner's nose. If anyone has the goods on Morial, the pressure to rat him out must by now be severe." |Read more|

Letter Reveals Private Deals

"A long-whispered-about document describing a slew of undisclosed interests in public contracts held by members of former Mayor Marc Morial's inner circle surfaced in court records Monday courtesy of federal prosecutors, eight days before some in the group are scheduled to stand trial in a case alleging extensive corruption at City Hall.

Among other arrangements, the counter letter filed with the court, which describes a partnership between lawyer Roy Rodney and restaurateur Stan "Pampy" Barré, indicates that their firm, S & J Consulting LLC, stood to earn about $1.4 million over 12 years as a subcontractor for a city recycling program, and was in line for a one-third share in a joint venture to run the recently reopened Old Gentilly Landfill." |Read more|